Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

MSNBC’s Tag for Now: ‘The Power of Change’

Watch MSNBC, a new commercial for the cable channel intones, and “experience the power of change.”

Is the channel, a subsidiary of NBC Universal, introducing a new slogan that calls to mind President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign message? MSNBC says it is not. But the commercial, which began last week, stirred fresh complaints from the network’s critics.

“Presidents have the power to change lives, to change course, to change America,” the ad’s narrator says. Before the election, the ad quoted John F. Kennedy’s famous “ask not” address. By Wednesday, it had been updated with a line from Mr. Obama’s election-night speech: “At this defining moment, change has come to America.”

Remarking about MSNBC’s perceived support of Mr. Obama, the libertarian radio host Neal Boortz asked on his blog Wednesday, “Could it get any more obvious?”

Left-leaning commentaries by the anchors Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow drew record numbers of viewers to MSNBC in the months leading up to the presidential election on Nov. 4.

The flag-waving “change” commercial looked to some like the start of a new branding campaign, following MSNBC’s year-old ads calling itself “The Place for Politics.” But Jeremy Gaines, a spokesman for the network, suggested that the message was a temporary one.

“ ‘The Power of Change’ is a line we’re using in an election week promotion campaign. MSNBC has been and will continue to be ‘The Place for Politics,’ ” he said.

It seemed clear that MSNBC, in tapping into the theme of “change,” was seeking to appeal to its liberal constituency just as the Fox News Channel seeks to appeal to conservative viewers. On election night, Fox attracted many more viewers than MSNBC — until Mr. Obama was pronounced the victor. During the midnight hour, when Mr. Obama spoke in Chicago, MSNBC averaged 5.6 million viewers, compared with Fox’s 3.9 million.

By Thursday, the MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews was saying on the network’s morning show that he wanted “to do everything I can to make this thing work, this new presidency work.” Defending his comments, he said “this country needs a successful presidency.” Already, viewers are experiencing the power of opinionated news.

BRIAN STELTER

A version of this article appears in print on , on page B4 of the New York edition with the headline: MSNBC’s Tag for Now: ‘The Power of Change’. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe